Pushing a contact record to Microsoft outlook client as a Vcard

I was doing some research the other day and found an article that described how a contact from CRM could be pushed to Microsoft Outlook as a Vcard, one by one at the push of a button.

This also can be synchronized to your PDA for ultimate mobility.

This offers an enormous advantage as the offline synchronization would be fast and efficient.

This software tool is available free of charge. Installation is just 6 steps away and is both compatible in CRM 3.0 and 4.0

Check out this link

http://crm.georged.id.au/post/2008/02/11/Exporting-CRM-records-as-vCards.aspx

Campaigns, Champagne, and More

I’m responsible for producing a live prospect event for RBS. I’m hoping to attract prospects with whom we’ve already talked, and have them attend an event to get hands-on experience with Dynamics GP.

I decided to use the Campaign function in CRM to plan and execute my event. Never used it before, but this is what I found:

1.) It allowed me to plan the tasks I needed to do, to draw the attendance I was looking for; primarily sending two e-mail notices to a Marketing List, and setting up follow-up phone calls with each of the prospects.

2.) By designing my campaign with specific tasks and dates, I was easily able to visualize the plan as a whole; detect omissions and errors, and correct. It’s a simple exercise, but it’s easy to do in CRM.

3.) By using a Marketing list I was able to dynamically change its composition as the concept of the event matured; just add or remove the marketing list from specific contacts. Much easier than maintaining an Excel spreadsheet. Plus, in the end, every task is recorded in CRM by contact.

As for the champagne; I’m waiting to pop the cork on that bottle for when the opportunities come rolling in.

Try out the Campaign function in CRM. It will be worth your time.

Another Benefit of Excel Integration

I was putting together a Marketing List in CRM 3.0, and reviewing existing Marketing Lists. I was frustrated by the fact that the Marketing List Membership view only includes the fields: Full Name, Business Phone, and Address 1.

I discovered that this view cannot be modified because it is coded into the application.

However when I exported the view to Excel using the "Dynamic worksheet" option, I had the opportunity to select from dozens of available fields, to also include in the export. This worked fine.

I was able to add the Parent Customer and the E-mail fields that I wanted. I also was able to save the Excel spreadsheet and distribute it to others within my company. Because the connection string is included in the spreadsheet, the data can be refreshed as desired.

Simple and effective.

Pivot Table Integration

We are always asked about the reporting capabilities of MS CRM. Here's a simple and compelling example. From a view, a user can create a dynamic link to an Excel Pivot Table, that provides interactive analytical ability for data in the CRM system. The value is that the link to the data is automatically created, and can be refreshed as desired.

Ed Martinez, Tao Yue, and Ramanathan Pallassana provide a detailed example of this process in their blog article: (Simplified) Pivot Table Integration